The Burnt Chef Journal

Peter & Laura - Mental Health and Key Takeaways!

This weeks guests are Peter and Laura who join me from their business The Greenman in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 

 

Laura speaks about her experience of ill mental health as a result of an operation where her heart stops and how together they manage her mental illness whilst running multiple businesses and encouraging staff to talk openly about their own wellbeing. Thanks Laura and Peter!

Erik Love - Meditation Coach

This weeks guest is Erik Love who joins us all the way from Brooklyn, New York to chat about working in hospitality from chef to barman to GM and how his journey in life led him to become a meditation and mindfulness coach. 

 

This is a great episode with loads of useful tips on how to begin on your journey to a more mindful life. 

 

If you are interested in coming onto the Burnt Chef Journal please email marketing@theburntchefproject.com to register your interest.  

At The Sauce - An Interview With Kris

This weeks episode a 'reverse' interview as Kris sits down to speak with Alex from At The Sauce podcast.

 

A great episode for those who aren't familiar with where The Burnt Chef Project started or are new to joining us. 

 

Huge thanks to Alice for providing this platform to help us spread the message. Do go over and listen to her podcast when you get a moment!

 

At the Sauce is a podcast about food stories. Join Alex Ryder and Karis Bouher as they talk to fellow food lovers about their stories. You'll be hearing from people with different backgrounds, including producers, home cooks, and restaurateurs.

Jeremy Fox - Don't Miss This Episode

Jeremy Fox gets personal about his struggle the stress and anxiety that comes with being a very talented, highly acclaimed chef. In this episode Jeremy kindly joins us to talk about what happened when he opened Ubuntu, the restaurant that first brought him fame and then nearly ruined his life.

 

Jeremy shares some of the most hard hitting life lessons that we've heard to date. This is one NOT to miss. 

 

For more information about The Burnt Chef Project please head over to our website: www.theburntchefproject.com

Aktar Islam - Growing Resilience (Mental Health Awareness Week Special)

This weeks guest is Birmingham born and bred, Aktar Ismal.

 

Aktar's exposure to British cuisine and the strong influence from his culture and heritage are what have shaped his approach and unique style; taking authentic cultural delicacies from the Indian subcontinent and combining them with modern innovative techniques and the best local produce sourced from independent ethical suppliers.

 

Aktar is now Chef Patron for the Michelin starred Opheem in Birmingham, which concentrates on modern progressive Indian cuisine. He also has other boutique fine dining restaurants in Birmingham.

 

We talk about the life lessons he has learnt during his time growing up in Birmingham and how he's developed a resilient mindset over his career. 

Harriet Mansell - The Soul Chef (Mental Health Awareness Week Special)

Harriet took an unconventional route into the industry. After studying Politics and History at university, she thereafter retrained to be a chef.

 

She took her first 'proper' kitchen job with fellow south west chef Mark Hix in London before going to culinary school and went on to intern at the prestigious Noma (2*) in Denmark, followed by a couple of Michelin kitchens in London and then into the super yacht industry where she worked as a private chef for high profile clients. Harriet has opened a pop-up restaurant, Robin Wylde, in Lyme Regis where her cuisine is based around the seasons, local produce and foraging.

 

Harriet gives her raw and unfiltered experience of life on a yacht as Sole Chef as well as the lessons she learnt during her time away. 

Stuart Ralston - Swapping Ego for Exercise (Mental Health Awareness Week Special)

Stuart has worked in some very prestigious places including Restaurant Gordon Ramsay (2*) in New York, and for VIP clientele at the exclusive Sandy Lane luxury resort in Barbados.

 

Seven years ago Stuart opened modern Scottish restaurant Aizle, meaning a burning coal or spark in Scots. It is Michelin guide recommended, and in 2019 was rated the 5th Best Fine Dining Restaurant in the UK, and number one in Scotland that year from Tripadvisor.

 

Stuart obviously has a great deal of experience working at a high level but in this raw interview we talk about his own experiences with mental and physical health issues as a result of stress but also reflect on some pretty major life changes as a result of his experiences.

Chistian Stevenson aka DJ BBQ - Where do I begin?! (Mental Health Awareness Week Special)

DJBBQ is a trail blazing barbecue cook with a tribe of dedicated fans on his DJBBQ Youtube channel and across social media. His first DJBBQ cookbook (Penguin), released in 2014 sold over 70,000 copies and still resides in the Amazon top 10 BBQ books. His second book Fire Food (Quadrille) was released in April 2018 and was an instant success. 2019 heralds the release of his third book, ‘The Burger Book’.

 

While cooking always takes centre stage, the DJBBQ experience encompasses food, fun and a lust for life at its core, or as Christian likes to call it, Catertainment. The DJBBQ live catering experience can be found at all the major UK festivals including The Big Feastival, Grilltopia, Camp Bestival, The Big Grill, Jimmy’s Sausage & Beer Festival and On Blackheath. Christian has also cooked at numerous Food festivals such as Taste London and the BBC Good Food Show. He has curated the Cutting Room stage at Meatopia London since its inception, hosting the live stage and interviewing world renowned chefs such as Francis Mallmann, Niklas Ekstedt and Yotam Ottolenghi.

 

He joins us at The Burnt Chef Project to talk about all things from snowboarding with Kylie Minogue, running a large catering business, working with Jamie Oliver and much much more. Strap yourself in because this episode is wild!

Dru Jaeger - Club Soda talks Mindful Drinking

This week's guest is Dru Jaeger who is co-founder of the growingly popular non-profit Club Soda. 

 

Club Soda helps individuals to live well by being more mindful about drinking. Whether it's cutting down, taking a break from alcohol or stop drinking, it's a fantastic community funded by The Drinks Trust full of amazing resources and support. 

 

For more information about Club Soda head over to: Welcome to Club Soda (joinclubsoda.com)

Tommy Heaney - Don't Rush!

This weeks guest is Tommy Heaney. Chef Patron of Heaneys Restaurant in Cardiff and has featured twice on Great British Menu.

 

Tommy’s first kitchen experience came at the age of just 14, working in his uncle’s restaurant in America. On his return he spent some time working under Tony Hughes at La Mon House Hotel in Belfast before travelling to Australia and spending time at a high end restaurant there. He has since trained under the biggest names in the culinary world including Great British Menu veteran Richard Corrigan, David Everitt-Matthias, Ollie Dabbous and Nacho Manzano at Casa Marcial in Spain.

 

His views on his career in hospitality and advice to others was refreshing and very useful. A great episode that we hope you enjoy!